One Car Family

We’re not car people. For us a car is a practical tool. But we’ve always had two cars — at least until a few days ago when the wheel fell off.

The wheel didn’t literally fall off, but , a strut on our 1990 Mazda 626 holding the shocks, turning mechanism and who knows what else on the right front wheel broke. $1000 to replace it and its partner on the left seems reasonable, but on a 20-year-old car is it worth it?

And now the experiment begins . . . can we live with one car?

The data:

I live about 5 miles from the office, but there is no direct public transportation. Biking is possible, but the roads are not the most bike friendly.

Jennifer already takes the bus and light rail to work.

The Mazda was only driven for errands and was my leave at the airport car.

I can work from home 1-2 days a week

We live 3 miles from downtown and bicycling to downtown and bus routes are both doable.

Unsure if my company will pay for taxi rides to the airport (I usually have to get their too early for public transportation).

There is no zip-car or flex car in our neighborhood.

Our 1990 Mazda 626 last winter.

Expected Results:

I’m going to be honest. I think we can survive on one car. I think we’ll thrive on one car for a while. We’ll get more exercise, I’ll be smarter about how I use my time at the office and we’ll do a better job of planing and consolidating errands.

And I think that will hold true until mid-October. As the weather turns, the days become short, we’ll probably fall back into our old habits. So if anyone knows of a small commuter car coming on the market in November, let me know.

You CAN use public transportation – the 38 will pick you up across the street and will drop you off on Kruse Way in a half hour. If you can work from home 1-2 times a week, why don’t you? We live in a city where it rains consistently 8 months out of the year, where it’s dark before 5pm for months at a time – biking and walking will only work during the summer and you can’t bike home with 3 bags of groceries. We can make do with one car for awhile, but the reality is, unless we can both work from home, we’re going to need two.